Bags or liners made of plastic have found widespread use in facilitating the collection of refuse and trash. A liner is used to line the interior surface of a trash receptacle thereby serving as a cover for the interior surface of the receptacle to keep the receptacle cleaner and facilitate removal of the trash in it. A liner is a bag with an opening. The opening of the liner is either dimensioned to fit over the mouth of a trash receptacle or is resilient-enough to be stretched over the receptacle's mouth. When the receptacle needs to be emptied of trash, the liner with the trash inside it is removed from the receptacle, with the liner serving as a convenient interim holder for the trash. After removal, the liner may be tied or bound with a twist tie near its mouth.
Liners facilitate the gathering of trash and they help to keep the inside of a trash receptacles cleaner, and they also protect those gathering trash to collect trash from trash receptacles. The edges of the liner mouth are simply gathered together and used to lift the liner free of the receptacle, so there is usually no need to touch the trash itself or clean the receptacle. A replacement liner is then inserted into the receptacle.
Despite the use of liners, it takes time and effort to gather trash. For example, an office building may have hundreds of trash receptacles that in which the removal of the old liner and its replacement with a new one is done daily. A more efficient and productive way to collect trash from receptacles would be well-received.